This invention relates to a mailer type business form intermediate, and more particularly to an improved adhesive pattern for a mailer type business form intermediate which reduces jams in printing machines, particularly high-speed cut sheet laser printers utilized by large mainframe computer systems, where such printers include friction-feed mechanism with retard devices.
In a printer requiring sheet handling to an image transfer station, where an image produced by the printer is transferred to a sheet, such a printer typically includes at least one tray for holding sheets, such as business forms, at least one friction feeder, and at least one retard device. The friction feeder is used to transport single sheets from the sheet tray in an effective and efficient manner. The friction feeder is typically a friction roller or belt which engages a surface of a particular sheet provided in the tray in order to move the sheet along a path leading to the imaging transfer station of the printer. The retard device typically another roller, belt, or pad, provides a retard surface proximate the friction feeder. The retard surface engages the surfaces of other sheets in the tray, preventing them from being transported along with the particular sheet. With such a printer, however, there may be a problem associated with the handling of any cut sheet business form that has strips of adhesive adjacent its leading edge.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior-art mailer-type business form intermediate that is z-foldable and that is typically used with a high-speed printer having a fiction feeder and at least one retard surface, such as for example, the DocuPrint 4635 Laser Printing System from Xerox(copyright). Examples of such a mailer intermediate are shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,595,404 and 6,003,760. Generally, the prior art mailer intermediate 100 is a single sheet substrate 102 having front and rear surfaces 101 and 103, top and bottom edges 105 and 107, and side edges 109 and 111. The single sheet substrate 102 is divided into first, second and third sections 104, 106, and 108 by first and second fold lines 110 and 112 that are substantially parallel to the top and bottom edges 105 and 107, and are typically lines of weakness, such as perforation lines. Sections 104, 106, and 108 z-fold against each other along the fold lines 110 and 112.
Additional lines of weakness or perforations 122 are provided adjacently to the side edges 109 and 111, thereby defining removable margin edge portions 113 and 115. A first pattern of a pressure activated cohesive 114, having adhesive strips 116 of equal length, is provided in each margin edge portion 113 and 115 of the first and second sections 104 and 106 on the front surface 101, and in each margin edge portion 113 and 115 of the second and third sections 106 and 108 on the rear surface 103. In order to provide an additional seal for the form intermediate 100, longitudinal strips of a pressure activated cohesive 118a, 118b, 118c, and 118d are provided on the front surface 101 adjacent the top edge 105 and the second fold line 112, and on the rear surface 103, adjacent the first folded line 110 and the bottom edge 107, respectively.
The adhesive strips 116 and 118 provided on a front surface 101 of the substrate 102 are illustrated as solid speckled boxes, and those provided on a back surface 103 are illustrated as dashed speckled boxes. With such an adhesive arrangement, however, there is a tendency for the leading edge of the form to be cupped downward by the adhesive strips 116 that extend across the form adjacent to the leading edge. This downward cupping of the leading edge of such form intermediated causes feeding problems in printers with friction feeders and retard surfaces.
In a printer with a friction feeder and a retard surface 62, the retard surface typically engages at around the middle section 106 of the business form 100 when a feed belt or roller of the friction feeder moves the top sheet from a stack of business forms (hereinafter referred to as the picked sheet) in the direction indicated by symbol x. As explained above, the purpose of the retard surface is to prevent feeding more than one sheet at a time, and is typically provided as a roller, pad, or other retard device. Accordingly, the problem associated with the above mentioned adhesive pattern is illustrated by FIG. 2, showing downward cupping of the sheet substrate 102 along section 2xe2x80x942. As the picked sheet moves in the x direction over the retard surface 62, the leading edge of the sheet substrate 102 in the downwardly cupped section may become crimped or folded downward, since it is still engaged by the retard surface 62, which is indicated by the dashed outline 124. Additionally, due to the cupping effect of the adhesive strips 116, which are provided on the front and rear surfaces 101, 103 proximate the corners of the sheet substrate 102, these corners may come into contact with other surfaces of the processing equipment as they are transported, and may become dog-eared, i.e., deflected up or down, as illustrated in FIG. 1, by downwardly deflected corner 126. These created defects not only detract from appearance of the business form 100, but may also make the form difficult to process through the printer and the folding/sealing/finishing equipment.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an improved mailer type business form intermediate which inhibits paper feeding crimping and dog-earing associated with the transport of mailer type business form intermediates in printers having at least one friction feeder and at least one retard surface.
The present invention relates to a mailer business form intermediate with an improved adhesive pattern which is suitable for printing machines having at least one friction feeder and at least one retard surface. The adhesive pattern of the present invention may be used with single sheet mailers, or with mailers having two or three built-in removable panels. Additionally, the invention is suitable for use with mailers which are simplex or duplex printed with variable or non-variable information. By variable information, is meant information which varies from mailer to mailer, such as employee names, addresses, and the like. By nonvariable information, is meant information that remains the same from mailer to mailer, such as a return address and standard instructions. The printing may be accomplished with the various automated printers common today, including impact printers, laser printers, thermal transfer printers, ink jet printers, and xerographic machines. The form intermediate is ideally suited for mailing secure documents and information.
Forms according to the present invention may be utilized for a variety of purposes. For instance, the present invention may be employed as a business form wherein the form is printed, folded and placed into a mailing envelope or package. Alternatively, the present invention can be employed as a mailer, whereby the form is printed, folded, and sealed thereby functioning as its own mailing package.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a form intermediate comprises a substantially quadrate substrate sheet having first and second surfaces, first and second longitudinal edges substantially parallel to each other, and first and second end edges substantially perpendicular to the first and second longitudinal edges. The form intermediate further includes first and second longitudinal lines of weakness formed in the sheet substantially parallel and proximate to the first and second longitudinal edges to define first and second removable margin strips. At least one fold line is formed in the sheet substantially parallel to the first and second end edges, and divides the sheet into sections on opposite sides thereof. An adhesive pattern on the first and second surfaces of the sheet is configured and dimensioned in each of the removable margin strips both to seal the sections together and to prevent significant cupping of the longitudinal edges and corner edge deflection.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an adhesive pattern for a form intermediate intended to be fed through a printer having at least one friction feeder and at least one retard surface is provided. The form intermediate includes a first surface, a second surface which faces the at least one retard surface, a leading longitudinal edge which interfaces with the friction feeder first, and at least one fold line substantially perpendicular to the leading longitudinal edge dividing the form intermediate into a plurality of panel sections. The adhesive pattern comprises at least one first adhesive strip which extends adjacent the leading longitudinal edge on the first surface a distance longer than the length of the at least one retard surface at least within the plurality of panels proximate the at least one retard surface such that a portion of the at least one first adhesive strip will pass over substantially the complete length of the at least one retard surface when the form intermediate is fed by the at least one friction feeder. The adhesive pattern further comprises at least one second adhesive strip which extends adjacent the leading longitudinal edge on the second surface a distance from the leading longitudinal edge inwards of the at least one first adhesive strip on the first surface at least within the plurality of panel sections proximate the at least one retard surface such that a portion of the at least one second adhesive strip will pass directly over substantially the complete length of the at least one retard surface without the leading longitudinal edge being cupped toward the at least one retard surface when the form intermediate is fed by the at least one friction feeder.